New paths for ID-Technologies open up in Berlin-Brandenburg

News from May 03, 2013

Sustainable innovations can only be successful when science and industry are well intermeshed. Prof. Radu Popescu-Zeletin, head of Fraunhofer FOKUS, und Ulrich Hamann, CEO of Bundesdruckerei GmbH, are getting future ID technologies off the ground with the innovationcluster “Next Generation ID”. In this latest interview Germany’s two leading experts in the field of ID technologies explain why such close cooperation is crucial in order to realize visionary concepts and how the cluster shall stimulate the capital region.

Popescu-Zeletin: The innovationcluster „NGID“ illustrates really well how important a seamless transport of knowledge between science and industry is when you want to create the future. In this cluster all relevant partners that are needed to realize innovative, industrially usable ID technologies, services and products – from development through to implementation – pool forces in the science location Berlin-Brandenburg. A key success factor is that none of the projects stands on its own. Instead NGID aims to offer a joint portfolio that we can build around a so called Identity Roadmap 2020 – addressing identity issues in their entirety.

Mister Hamann, Bundesdruckerei is co-working with experts from research and science for years now in order to develop solutions for “Secure Identities”. Why?

Hamann: The digital age we are living in today demands high protection of our identity. Every day about 1 million citizens worldwide fall victim to cybercrime. This is causing costs of 290 billion Euro each year – with tendency to rise. I am convinced that Bundesdruckerei together with the cluster partners can use its know-how for solutions and drive the development of security technologies decisively forward – in the best interests of Full-ID-Management. This is why we cooperate with several universities in Berlin and various institutes of the Fraunhofer Society. In 2009 Bundesdruckerei and some of our partners also founded the society “Secure Identity Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.” with the aim to make Secure Identity Technologies a growth engine for the Berlin-Brandenburg region.

The Fraunhofer innovation cluster „Next Generation ID“ joins the 5 Fraunhofer Institutes FOKUS, HHI, IAP, IPK and IZM as well as numerous industry partners and universities. It is also officially supported by the counties Berlin and Brandenburg.